[Dramaland Catnip] Strong platonic friendships

Just the day before the deadline, I learned about the dramaland catnip topic and it excited me right away. I thought of giving it a try but all my favorite drama tropes which I adore were already posted. So after serious thinking, the one that suddenly came to my mind (or rather heart) was platonic relationships, where characters of opposite genders show strong friendship without romantic feelings underneath.

The first drama where I noted this relationship was in Tree With Deep Roots, between the King Sejong and So-yi. Their relationship deeply moved my heart and the reason is because of the realization that the king’s affection towards So-yi was nothing but pure love. She played an important role in his life as the person who understood the pain he felt after accidentally being responsible for the death of her family and friends. So-yi’s understanding towards him become his strength and helped him overcome the guilt that upset him. They are two people who loved and cared for each other totally.

Tree With Deep Roots

In contrast, there are childhood friendships that are super sweet like the ones that the heroines have in Sassy Go Go and Heirs. In Sassy Go Go, Yeon-doo and Dong-jae’s friendship is so cute and meaningful. Dong-jae’s care towards Yeon-doo was adorable as he always cheered and supported her. Their friendship went really deep, including a traumatic incident in their childhood when he hurt Yeon-doo accidentally and resulted in creating a phobia for him.

Theirs was a lovable friendship that I really enjoyed, which made me think of how wonderful it would be to have a Dong-jae in our lives who would offer us not only his friendship and care but also strawberry milk to instantly lift our spirits whenever we’re down.

Heirs

And in Heirs, the friendship between Eun-sang and Chan-young was like the cherry on top of the cake. It was especially funny to see how both their lovers were petty about it, and his girlfriend Bo-na’s jealousy over the friendship was a big source of amusement. Bo-na even went so far as to care for Eun-sang just because she thought it would keep her boyfriend from worrying or thinking about Eun-sang, which was pretty cute.

There are also relationships where the characters are not childhood friends and have a lighter connection but still care for each other in a genuine way. We saw that with Ji-hyun and the Scheduler in 49 Days, and Eun-tak and the grim reaper in Goblin, who all bonded over their sincere concern for each other. Yong-ha in Sungkyungkwan Scandal can also fall under this category, as he became a true friend to Yoon-hee without romantic feelings coming into the relationship.

Sungkyunkwan Scandal

What makes me love these platonic relationships is that they aren’t second leads who break our heart (I seriously feel pain for every second lead). The relationships often feel very warm and cozy with zero percent romantic interest, providing feel-good relationships as the characters genuinely love and care for each other without any expectations.

Recently the example that I enjoyed the most, which I could relate to myself, was manager Cha Do-ha’s love towards actor Woon-gwang in Man to Man. What better to relate to than the love of a fangirl towards her Oppa? They were close and loyal in a true platonic sense, and made me feel butterflies thinking how blessed I would be to be able to feel such love coming from my Oppa.

June 28, 2017 at 8:06 AM

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Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. More of these in more dramas, please. Right now I'm loving the friendship between Bong-hee and Eun-hyuk in Suspicious Partner. They're adorable buddies, and I was so relieved when their relationship deepened---but not in a love triangle way. Just, more please. I don't even know if I think of this as a catnip as much as a realistic, normal part of life that I'd like to see translated much more often to dramaland.

June 28, 2017 at 8:07 AM

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Not my catnip but I also like those kind of friendship. They said "men and women can never be 'just friends'" but I beg to disagree. I have a lot of friends who has an opposite gender's best friend while they are also in a relationship and all is good I must say.

June 28, 2017 at 11:52 PM

June 28, 2017 at 7:45 PM

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How about Joon Oh & Bong Hee from Missing 9??
They care for each other purely bcs they care for their friends deeply. They fight day & night, teeth to teeth, from plane crash survivor to nuclear trap to psycho killer hunt them to daily life. I honestly really love and felt for their friendship, so do The rest of good member who defend Joon Oh at the end.

June 28, 2017 at 11:54 PM

June 28, 2017 at 8:26 AM

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I love the friendship between Jang Yoon Ha (Uee) and Yoo Chang Soo (Park Hyung Sik) from High Society. Their chemistry is good and I remember that I actually ship them instead even though they clearly set the boundaries that they're just friends.

June 28, 2017 at 10:11 AM

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I love these relationships in my dramas =) I love them especially when the heroine is able to have a friend to fall back on and to confide in when things happen, 'cause yunno, in dramaland there's always this thing called 'FATE' that likes to play freakin' mind games with everyone that makes everyone into emotional wrecks who don't know how to talk so things aren't communicated--for up to the 10 most crucial and emotional episodes in the drama itself--on top of not being able to mentally compute at all and then 'things happen' XDDD

June 28, 2017 at 10:50 AM

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It would be nice to have a plot with a platonic friendship between a man and a woman, and how they support one another and even remain friends when each one have gotten married and be friends with the new partners and keep on having this friendship until they die, ok... wait....we have now Dong Man and Ae ra but they are dating themselves instead, LOL!!!
But it is possible! Of course it is.... to have a true friend like that.
A drama based on friendship should be super funny... like everybody expecting them to fall for each other but they dont. LOL...could be cool... lots of fun and happy end!

June 28, 2017 at 10:52 AM

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Yes, precisely. I like it when a drama has a male character who isn't romantically attracted to the female lead but loves her all the same - it goes against that horrible idea that men and women can't be friends. Because they can, and they have.

June 28, 2017 at 12:59 PM

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This is one of my favorite catnip too, few things beat the warmth of seeing friends bonding and fighting together through life's ups and downs...
I have to recall the friendships in Chief Kim here, they were delightful to watch. I loved how Chief Kim called his former secretary in the evenings to keep her posted of everything he was doing. I loved how he entrusted the spy-intern with difficult missions and planned their actions together with his female colleagues as a team, fully trusting them with their professional actions and also with personal matters. I found this portrayal of friendship between men and women so cute and refreshing. The bromances were also strong in this drama. I would recommend it to anyone that has a weakness for this particular topic. :)

June 28, 2017 at 1:57 PM

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I loved in Goblin how Grimms went from being antagonistic to Euntak, to being housemates, fondly calling her 'missing soul' and asking her for love advice! And that scene when he asks her for a name that girls' love! Iconic!
And Euntak calling Deokwa 'Oppa' all time was cute too!

June 28, 2017 at 4:06 PM

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Oh my god. You cannot love this trope and not know male lead kang ji hwan and second female lead han go eun in capital scandal. Platonic soulmates MOST WONDERFUL BEST FRIENDSHIP. That drama is golden. Haven't thought of it in a while but it used to be one of my top favourites.

June 28, 2017 at 6:14 PM

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They didn't have that many scenes together, but I liked Dongryong and Deoksun's friendship in Reply 1988. From the solidarity they share in their less-than-average grades (DR: "Freaks, I'm hanging out with freaks. Ah, suddenly I miss Deoksun, Deoksun-ah where are you? Can your hear my voice??"), to DR giving DS the exact relationship advice she needs in a gentle but clear way, the writer and actors made the few moments between them flesh out their friendship vividly.

June 30, 2017 at 7:06 PM

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Can I include Seo-No and Chae Kyung of 7DQ. This kind of friendship is the one I want for myself.... time tested....Same is true for Yeok and Seo-No.. there is indeed a friend who sticks closer than a brother. The type that is certainly for keeps!!!